John Petrucci and Ernie Ball Music Man celebrate 20 years of collaboration with limited edition Majesty and JP models
Finished in Honey Butter, the 20th Anniversary electric guitars look good enough to eat, and come with six or seven-strings
Ernie Ball Music Man's long-standing partnership with Dream Theater guitarist and prog-guitar titan at large John Petrucci has delivered some of the most exciting electric guitar designs of the modern era.
To celebrate 20 years of the John Petrucci Collection, EBMM has released limited edition six- and seven-string versions of its Majesty and JP models. Both arrive finished in Honey Butter with commemorative laser-etched anniversary tremolo backplates, emblazoned with a 20th anniversary logo and Petrucci's John Hancock.
Matte black Custom John Petrucci Music Man floating vibratos and matching Schaller M6-IND locking tuners, matching headstocks and ebony fingerboards with gold JP shield inlays adorn both guitars.
And the builds are quite similar, too, with grain-filled Honduran mahogany bodies and figured maple, and grain-filled mahogany necks. The JP's neck meets the body with a five-bolt joint, while the Majesty has a neck-through construction, and the signature figure maple shield on the body's top.
As with the other models in the JP selection, the 20th Anniversary models pack considerable firepower in the electronics department. The JP has a DiMarzio Liquifire humbucker at the neck, a DiMarzio Crunch Lab at the bridge, and a piezo bridge pickup. The Majesty, meanwhile, has a DiMarzio Rainmaker humbucker at the neck position, a DiMarzio Dreamcatcher at the bridge, and it, too, has a piezo.
The control circuits on both sit in graphite acrylic resin coated body cavities with aluminum control covers to eliminate noise, and both have a Custom Music Man active preamp featuring a push/push volume knob for up to 20dB of gain boost, and 500kohm push/push passive tone feature.
These will surely be collectible in years to come so it's good to know that inside the case you'll find a signed COA, too.
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Prices are as follows: 20th Anniversary JP is $3,799 for the six-string, $3,999 for the seven-string; 20th Anniversary Majesty is $3,899 for the six-string, $4,099for the seven-string version.
See Ernie Ball Music Man for more details.
Jonathan Horsley has been writing about guitars and guitar culture since 2005, playing them since 1990, and regularly contributes to MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitar World. He uses Jazz III nylon picks, 10s during the week, 9s at the weekend, and shamefully still struggles with rhythm figure one of Van Halen’s Panama.